Follow-up care is important for both you and your healthcare team. It helps your healthcare team monitor your progress and to see how well you are recovering from any side effects from your chemotherapy treatment. Be sure to keep track of any side effects you may be experiencing. It helps to keep a journal.

Follow-up appointments give you a chance to discuss how you feel now. Feel free to also discuss how you felt about having cancer. You can ask questions about your care and anything that you should watch for in the future. You may also want to talk about making healthy changes to your life or ask about support groups if you do not belong to one already.

Your healthcare team will outline the details of your follow-up plan. As well as consultations with your healthcare team, follow-up care may include a physical exam, blood tests and other imaging exams. These tests may be similar to those you had for diagnosis.

The schedule of follow-up visits is different for each person. You might be seen more often in the first year after treatment, and less often after that. Your follow-up care may be managed by your family doctor or your oncologist. This may depend on your type of cancer and how successful the chemotherapy was in treating it.

Be sure to ask questions about any concerns you may have.

Questions to ask about your follow-up care (PDF).

Longterm side effects of chemotherapy are rare, but still important to consider. Find out more.